Police Night Out all about safety

Tue August 12, 2014 02:43pm

The city of Garden Grove has been holding its annual "Police Night Out" for more than 20 years, to help promote understanding between citizens and police officers. It's an event that helps people know who the police officers are in their neighborhoods.

The "National Police Night Out" has been in existence for 31 years.

Last week was National Night Out, where the Garden Grove Police Department, Boys & Girls Club, the Garden Grove Downtown Business Association and Garden Grove Neighborhood Association joined together to enjoy hot dogs, popcorn, learn about safety and more, on Historical Main Street.

Residents in eight different Garden Grove locations (east and west Garden Grove) were provided with a variety of pamphlets, earthquake preparedness information and Officer McGruff coloring books for the kids, along with getting to interact with McGruff and have their pictures taken with the police mascot.

The Community Emergency Response Team was on hand to help residents learn more about individual preparedness, planning and survival skills and mutual aid within neighborhoods and worksites during the initial period of a disaster and coping with the aftermath of any disaster.

The Garden Gove Neighborhood Association's mission is: "For public awareness about the city and to build strong relationships with City Council and other city departments and provide fun family activities to build a bond between residents and the city."

The Boys & Girls Club gave out free popcorn, and the Garden Grove Downtown Business Association provided the venue, support and logistics for the event.

Garden Grove police specialty units, including the police mounted patrol, gang unit and traffic motorcycle officers visited with those attending the night on Historic Main Street. Recorded history shows that the Garden Grove Police Department hosted its first National Night Out and Open House back in 1988, where it encouraged neighbors to “put a light on crime” by turning their porch lights on and visiting the city’s police facilities.

"This is our first year attending," said Garden Grove resident Alicia Lopez. "We're learning about safety from the police officers here."